Disposable pet waste hybrid mitt/glove

ABSTRACT

A disposable pet waste hybrid mitt/glove is adapted to collect and dispose of pet waste, incorporating four tubular finger sleeves adapted to encompass the distal phalanges, including the thumb, three-quarter webbing between glove fingers and one-quarter webbing between the index finger and thumb, and a flared, extended cuff which can be tied. The cuff extends midway up the forearm of the user. The entire device can be made of biodegradable material and worn on either hand of the user.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to waste collection and disposal systems.

2. Description of the Related Art

Pet waste on streets, walkways, parks, beaches, and private property become a health and aesthetic problem, especially in high density urban communities. Many municipalities have become fiercely proactive in enacting ordinances which require a pet owner to retrieve and properly dispose of pet waste in lieu of being fined. Pet owners are faced with the unpleasant task of collecting and disposing of animal fecal material. In the past, pet owners have used pieces of paper, plastic shopping bags, and rods to collect waste. However, each method carries its own troubles. Paper is the simplest method used. A disadvantage of using paper is that moisture seeps through, causing the paper to fall apart and soiling the owner's hand. Use of plastic shopping bags prevent wet matter from contacting the hand. However, plastic bags can slide off the hand, making it difficult to grasp waste matter. Plastic bags hide the waste from the view of the pet owner which forces the pet owner to make several attempts to pick up the waste, while having to manipulate and apply undue pressure on the waste, which can be an uncomfortable sensation.

Waste collecting rods have also been used to collect and dispose of waste. However, they can cumbersome for the user to carry, especially when walking an overactive pet. Rods are meant to be reusable and, as a result, must be cleaned for sanitary reasons.

Certain other devices for disposing of animal waste have been developed that encase the entire hand. However, they do not allow the user to readily control and collect the waste because the devices do not fit the thumb, do not fit each individual finger of the wearer, and provide the additional surface area between the thumb and each individual finger to collect the waste. Additionally, these hand devices do not provide an easy and quick way to contain waste without soiling the user's hand. Although some hand encasing devices means for enclosing the waste for disposal, these devices require a lot of hand manipulation to enclose and contain waste.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,788,733, issued to Lerner on Dec. 6, 1998 describes a combined cleaning glove and disposal bag. The device is a thin plastic glove having three compartments; one for the thumb, one for the small finger, and one for the remaining fingers. The glove is ambidextrous and has a tie at the wrist to secure the glove when it is turned inside out. The surface of the glove is covered with a towel layer that is infused with a cleaning solution.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,438,708, issued to Jacovitz on Aug. 8, 1995 describes a manual waste collection, containment and disposal glove. The glove has a sleeve that encases the lower arm and handles found at the end of the sleeve. The handles allow the wearer to pull the glove off the hand, in an inverted position, and to tie the inverted glove containing the waste. The palm of the glove has absorbent, non-absorbent or abrasive contact means.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,116,668, issued to Carpol on Sep. 12, 2000 describes a disposable waste collection garment that covers the hand as well as the wrist and lower arm. Two handles are provided at the end of the garment that covers the lower arm. The handles help invert the garment over the waste and provide a way to tie the garment in a self contained compartment. A cleaning cloth is also found in a pouch placed on the forearm of the garment.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,481,766, issued to May et al. on Nov. 19, 2002 describes a glove like disposal bag made of flexible plastic or rubber. The glove has a flexible bag positioned between the thumb and index finger that can be removed from the glove body to dispose of waste collected in the flexible bag. The glove has a cleansing pad and a sanitizing bar attached to its body to clean the soiled area once waste is removed. A flared wrist portion is attached to the base of the glove body. A drawstring is attached to the end of the wrist portion to close the glove around the wrist and to help tie and close the glove, containing the waste, once it is inverted.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,511,111, issued to Dooley on Jan. 28, 2003 describes a disposable glove incorporating half webbing between glove fingers, a full, thin padding in the palm and fingers area, and a tapered, extended length cuff with ties at the outer cuff end. The cuff extends midway up the arm of the user. The palm and finger padding may be bubble-wrap in structure, or made paper material, or rigid plastic; it blocks the warmth of the waste from being felt by the user's hand. The half webbing between glove fingers greatly reduces the necessary surface area needed to collect larger proportions of waste material which defeats its intended use. The padding is designed to block the warmth of the waste material, but can reduce dexterity and limit the pet owner's ability to feel the waste material in the glove. Losing the ability to feel the waste material can make picking up the waste more cumbersome by applying undue pressure with the fingers and thumb which is an undesirable sight and sensation. Also, the padding on the one side can restrict the use of the glove to either a right or left handed user.

Other patents showing waste disposal devices the hand include U.S. Pat. No. 4,645,251, issued to Jacobs on Feb. 24, 1987 (two layered glove like waste disposal system); U.S. Pat. No. 4,768,818, issued to Kolic on Sep. 6, 1988 (disposable litter pick-up mitt).

Many devices attempt to aid the pet owner in retrieving the pet waste. U.S. Pat. No. 4,788,733, issued to Lerner, U.S. Pat. No. 5,438,708, issued to Jacovitz, U.S. Pat. No. 6,481,766, issued to May et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,645,251, issued to Jacobs, U.S. Pat. No. 4,768,818, issued to Kolic discloses a fully webbed finger glove and an oversized collection pad for collecting and disposing waste. The bulky pad and full webbing between the finger portions can restrict movement of the fingers, thumb, and hand in collecting waste. U.S. Pat. No. 5,961,167, issued to Gilley, discloses a glove and bag combination for waste collection, including an absorbent layer. The device permits only limited finger and hand motion for the process.

Mitt and bag combinations for collecting waste are known. U.S. Pat. No. 4,845,781, issued to Strickland et al.; discloses an invertible hand mitt for collecting contaminated materials; three-quarter webbing feature of the present invention are not disclosed. U.S. Pat. No. 4,902,283, issued to Rojko et al.; teaches an invertible mitt for wiping babies, which allows the user to avoid contact with baby waste, but does not allow manipulation of the hand and fingers to pick up waste efficiently.

Disposable gloves used for general cleaning are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,788,733 issued to Lerner (previously referenced); U.S. Pat. No. 4,959,881 issued to Murray; U.S. Pat. No. 5,020,160 issued to Cano; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,806,099 issued to Grindberg. A reusable general purpose cleaning glove is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 720,640 issued to Torrens, which shows a glove for washing and scrubbing.

A need exists for a device to conform to the user's hand, especially the thumb and each finger, allowing the user to readily grasp waste material. A need also exists for a device to contain waste in which the device can be easily pulled off the gloved hand, inverted for enclosing the waste material, and tied to contain the waste for disposal in the most simplistic manner.

SUMMARY

The instant invention provides a pet waste collection and disposable device in the form of a disposable glove-like member made of thin, flexible, preferably biodegradable material (polyethylene, vinyl, latex, polypropylene, cellophane etc.). The glove is of length to extend up a user's forearm, and may be manufactured in many widths and lengths to fit a variety of users.

Webbing is provided three-quarters (to the joint at distal and intermediate phalanges) up the fingers and thumb portion of the mitt/glove. The webbing provides additional surface area needed to collect larger proportions of waste material which the user's hand normally could not control and maintain, permits acceptable dexterity of the user's fingers and thumb in collecting the waste in various proportions, and prevents any liquid oozing from the waste and escaping around the user's fingers and onto the back of the mitt/glove.

The open end of the cuff should be flared outward and long enough to allow the user to pull the mitt/glove up, around, and over the hand in such a manner that the user does not have to apply undue pressure on the hand, fingers, and thumb by squeezing the waste to get the mitt/glove inverted; this can be a most uncomfortable and repulsive feeling.

A quantity of identical gloves can be folded and stacked for quick and convenient dispensing. The mitt/glove can be made in a variety of colors, patterns, or prints. The invention can similarly be utilized for retrieval and disposal of waste from all livestock, wild, and domestic.

Accordingly, the invention provides a simple and efficient device for hand collection and disposal of pet waste, where a user's hand is protected from direct contact with the pet waste.

The invention also provides a device for collecting pet waste which allows full use of the fingers and hands to pick up the waste, while preventing the waste from leaking around and onto the back of the hand and fingers of the user. The three-quarter webbing also provides additional surface area needed to collect larger proportions of waste material which the user's hand normally could not control and maintain.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an environmental perspective view of a pet waste collection and disposable mitt/glove according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an elevation view of the pet waste collection and disposal mitt/glove.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the dorsal side taken along lines 1A-1A of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the ventral side taken along lines 1A-1A of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along lines 1B-1B of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is an environmental perspective view of the pet waste collection and disposal mitt/glove being removed from a user's hand.

FIG. 7 is an environmental perspective view of the pet waste collection and disposal mitt/glove utilized as a disposable bag according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a top view of the pet waste removal mitt/glove dispenser.

FIG. 9 is a cross section view of the pet waste removal mitt/glove being removed from a dispenser.

Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As illustrated in FIGS. 1-9, the present invention provides a pet waste collection and disposal glove like device configured as a mitt/glove and generally indicated at 10. Mitt/glove 10 is provided with the customary four fingers 12 and thumb 14. As stated above, the glove can fabricated from thin biodegradable material so that it will conform to the disposal standards that may exist in certain communities.

A feature of the invention is the provision of three-quarter webbing 17 between the fingers 12 and thumb 14 of the glove. Three-quarter webbing as opposed to full webbing known in the art is preferred because the user may manipulate his or her fingers with full dexterity in collecting the pet waste. Such webbing extends only three-quarters up the finger and thumb portions of the device, and not all the way to the ends, as is the case in some known collection gloves. Equally important, the three-quarter webbing 17 prevents any liquid oozing from the waste from escaping around the user's fingers and onto the back of the glove.

As shown in FIG. 1, mitt/glove 10 can be elongated so as to extend approximately midway up the forearm of a user. A mitt/glove length of about thirteen inches will be adequate for many normal users. In addition to providing protection for the user's arm, the extra length makes manipulation easier when the mitt/glove 10 is removed as shown in FIG. 6. Another feature of the invention is the provision of the outward flared open cuff illustrated in FIG. 2 and FIG. 5. The flared cuff 18 is an integral feature of the mitt/glove because it provides the user plenty of maneuverability when pulling the mitt/glove up and over the hand and fingers as illustrated in FIG. 6. The flared cuff also eliminates the user from having to manipulate the waste in the hand while removing the device from the hand, which is a most uncomfortable and obnoxious sensation or feeling. After the mitt/glove has been removed from the user's hand, the flared cuff allows the user the ability to tie a knot to safely secure the waste in the bag for proper disposal as shown in FIG. 7.

Attention is now directed to FIG. 9 wherein mitt/glove 10 is shown incorporated in a dispensing folded stack 20. Folded stack 20 is overlapped with another mitt/glove at 21 so that a mitt/glove 10 may be easily removed from the stack when needed. The folded stack is overlapped to allow the next mitt/glove to easily present itself outside of the slot 22 in FIG. 8 and FIG. 9. In an embodiment, the mitt/glove are formed separately and folded into a dispenser 19, in the same fashion as a box of tissues.

Utilizing the present invention can be fast and easy. A single mitt/glove is removed from the dispenser 19. The user inserts his or her hand into the mitt/glove to retrieve pet waste W as shown in FIG. 1. After retrieving the waste, the user's free hand is then employed to turn the mitt/glove inside out as shown in FIG. 6. The inverted mitt/glove now becomes a disposable bag with the waste W contained inside as shown in FIG. 7. The flared cuffs 18 are used to tie the inverted glove into a disposal bag as shown in FIG. 7.

Although the presently disclosed subject matter and its advantages have been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made wherein without departing from the spirit and scope of the presently disclosed subject matter as defined by the appended claims. Moreover, the scope of the presently disclosed subject matter is not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments described in the specification. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to include within their scope such modifications. 

1. A disposable pet waste hybrid glove, comprising: a glove-like member fabricated from a thin flexible biodegradable material without padding and having a front portion and a back portion, the back portion being connected to the front portion to form a sheath adapted for encasing dorsal and ventral aspects of a hand; four tubular finger sleeves adapted to encompass the distal phalanges; a thumb sleeve extending from the sheath; three-quarter webbing between the four finger sleeves and one-quarter webbing between the thumb and index finger sleeve and adapted such that, pet waste may be grasped without leaking out between the fingers while dexterity of a user's fingers is maintained.
 2. The pet waste collection and disposal device as defined in claim 1, further comprising a wrist portion extending from the sheath and terminating in an open end; flaring outward; such that said flared end can be tied in order to contain waste material within the glove for disposal.
 3. The pet waste collection and disposal device as defined in claim 2, wherein said glove-like member has an overall length of approximately thirteen inches.
 4. The pet waste collection and disposal device as defined in claim 3, wherein integral flared cuff are formed on said elongated arm portion at said opening.
 5. The pet waste collection and disposal device as defined in claim 4, wherein said glove-like member can be worn on either hand.
 6. The pet waste collection and disposal device as defined in claim 5, wherein said glove-like member comprises a thin flexible plastic material. 